A limited number of affordable and/or available parking spaces that are mostly time-limited, expensive and a good distance from the destination, environmental zones, lack of space in the city centres and overcrowded road systems associated with increasing energy costs make it difficult to be mobile.
This restriction of individual mobility is to be overcome via electric two-wheel vehicles that may be used either as an independent driving concept or may be stowed in the passenger car for last-mile-mobility.
Collapsible and/or folding bicycles and also folding scooters have been known for some time as camping accessories and/or boot accessories.
The electrical motorization of said bicycles etc. has progressed within the scope of an expanded mobility concept.
A purely electrically driven E-bike that does not have a pedal drive is known from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/sciencetech/video-1137633/The-worlds-folding-bike-Impossible-fits-bag.html, wherein the E-bike may be assembled in a multiplicity of collapsing and folding steps from its packed size, in which it may fit into a pack of hand-bag size up to a rucksack size, into its final ready-to-use size and then collapsed back into its packed size.
DE 10 2010 027 997 A1 and http://www.elektrofahrrad24.de/news_vw-e-bike-bilder-zur-studie-12103#.V0FB-Onn36k likewise disclose a purely electrically driven E-Bike that does not have a pedal drive and requires fewer collapsing and folding steps between the packed size and the ready-to-use size but, when folded, this E-bike fills the spare wheel well in a medium-sized vehicle.
The two previously mentioned modes of transportation are disadvantageous owing to the fact that:
(1) they have a limited range, at the end of which they are prevented from continuing, rather than being assisted, owing to a lack of pedal drive,
(2) a tolerable packed size is associated with a time-consuming multiplicity of assembling and collapsing steps,
(3) a tolerable number of assembling and collapsing steps is associated with an unsatisfactory amount of space required by the packed size, and
(4) there is no facility for a muscle power-operated drive, regardless of whether an electric-motorized assist device is provided or not.
With the advent of kickboards, which are equipped with a footboard, a handle bar, which may be folded down onto said footboard, two front wheels and one or more rear wheels. In contrast to bicycles and kick-scooters, a steering angle is achieved not via a pivot movement of a steering assembly, which is connected in a non-rotatable manner to a steerable wheel, about a steering axis that stands upright with respect to a roadway surface, but rather said steering angle is achieved, as in the case with skateboards, via laterally inclining the footboard about a tilt axis that extends parallel with the roadway surface. Small and particularly light mini kick-scooters, which could be collapsed to a minimum size without the use of tools and whose steering assembly may be folded down onto the footboard in a similar manner as to the handle bar of a kickboard, grew in popularity above all in city areas. In addition to a small wheel diameter of a maximum approx. 15 cm or 6″, such mini kick-scooters are characterized by a simple and light construction whilst foregoing a saddle or any other seating facility and also by the facility of being able to reduce their packed-size dimension via folding down a steering assembly that is connected in a non-rotatable manner to the front wheel that may pivot about the steering axis that is perpendicular or inclined with respect to the footboard.
DE 10 2012 204 915 A1 discloses an electric-motorized mini-scooter which, in contrast to the previously mentioned E-bike that is driven purely electrically and without muscle-power, may be driven purely by muscle power in a manner that is usual for a mini kick-scooter. Furthermore, the electric-motorized mini kick-scooter may be moved forward assisted by muscle power in addition to a possible purely electrical drive. A braking function with an energy recovery facility extends the range of the mini kick-scooter, at the end of which said mini kick-scooter may continue with its onward travel assisted via the facility of an unlimited purely manually actuated drive. The steering assembly that is connected by way of a cardan joint to the front wheel that may pivot to and fro about a steering axis that is tilted inclined towards the front is arranged ahead of the front wheel. As a consequence, in the multiple-folded, collapsed state, the steering assembly extends beyond the front wheel which results in an awkward, less compact packed size.
For the sake of completeness, a kickboard that is disclosed in ES 2 508 991 A1 is also mentioned, wherein a footboard, which corresponds in its construction to that of a skateboard, transitions directly and in a seamless manner into a front plate that stands upright on its front face and assumes the function of a handle bar via a grip opening that is provided therein.
DE102013207517 A1 relates to a steering wheel suspension in which the steering wheel is rotatably mounted on a wheel axis that is connected to a steering assist arm and which is installed in a narrow-track vehicle.
US20150321722 describes a folding motor scooter that is provided with a battery. The motor scooter is folded in such a manner that the two wheels lie parallel with one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,801,010B2 discloses a scooter that comprises between its position for use and a position in which it may be stored a moveable structure for the third.
EP2514661 A2 discloses a 3-wheel scooter comprising 2 front wheels. The rear wheel pivots flat between the front wheels when the scooter is collapsed.
DE29612276 U1 relates to a kick-scooter having a folding articulated joint that is blocked via a pivot lever.
DE102012220011A1 discloses an operating device for operating an electric wheel that controls the velocity of the travel in dependence upon environmental parameters.